Swing a tune: Detroit's interactive new art attraction

An interactive musical swing set is now open to the public at Cadillac Square through May 8th. One of the ideas of the swings is to get total strangers swinging next to each other and strike up on conversation.
Eric Seals Detroit Free Press

A big, white swing set in downtown Detroit emits dissonant tones of guitars, harps, vibraphones and pianos as people swing — until they swing together.

"It's all about cooperation and the notion that together, we can achieve more than alone," said Sarah Mackenzie with Daily Tous Les Jours, a Montreal design studio that made the swings. "If two people on this side of the swing set are swinging together, they'll create a melody. If three people are swinging together, it'll create another melody. And the melodies become more and more complex."

“It's all about cooperation and the notion that together, we can achieve more than alone.”

Sarah Mackenzie, Daily Tous Le Jours

Interactive art installation "The Swings: An Exercise in Musical Cooperation" opened Thursday in Cadillac Square and is available for people to try out daily, for free, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. through May 8. The musical sounds come from speakers above each individual swing. Underneath each of the 10 seats are white bars of LED light.

"If you come visit the swings at night, it's actually my favorite time to be here," Mackenzie said. "And you could be walking or driving from a mile away, and you would notice kind of like this ray of light swinging back and forth. It's beautiful."

The swing set was created in Montreal, and Detroit is the second stop on a tour that includes West Palm Beach, Fla., and San Jose, Calif. Mackenzie said as many as 34,000 people gave the swing set a try in West Palm Beach. The installation's Detroit unveiling involved cooperation among the Detroit 300 Conservancy, Quicken Loans and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

A video posted by Robert Allen (@radetroit) on Apr 7, 2016 at 8:13am PDT

Robert Gregory, president of the Detroit 300 Conservancy, and others introduced the downtown attraction at a news conference Thursday.

"The fact that these internationally known swings are coming to Detroit (now) is a perfect fit for all the place-making and regeneration going on in our downtown and our city," Gregory said. "We have a city that's on a positive roll. A rapidly growing downtown, and of course one of the finest and extraordinary public spaces in the world in Campus Martius Park."

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Jake Ireland, 30 of Romeo uses his iPhone to take pictures of his daughter Isibeal Ireland, 9, of Romeo during the first day that the interactive musical swing set was open to the public at Cadillac Square on Thursday, April 7, 2016.(Photo: Eric Seals/DFP)

Mackenzie said the swings project was started five years ago as Montreal officials were looking to revitalize the city's core. It's been a popular addition, so now they're sharing it with others.

Michelle Giorlando of Ferndale, who works at Quicken, was one of the first people to demonstrate the swings Thursday. She said the installation is an "awesome" collaboration.

"It's great. I think it's going to bring people out," she said. "It's a lot of fun."